The night was heavy with the menace that danced through its every second. Aeron stood at the balcony of his fortress to scan the city below. The streets were silent now, but he knew that would not last. The rumors of betrayal had spread like a fire. Though he had silenced one traitor, he knew many more lingered in the shadows. Sometimes, the enemy was not on the outside; it was within.
Lira approached him, her footsteps barely audible against the stone floor. "Aeron, we've received word. The Red Dawn has begun mobilizing. Their forces are gathering in the eastern quarter. Vallius isn't wasting time."
Aeron slowly turned to her, his eyes overlooking the city, obviously occupied with his calculations. "Vallius is predictable. Few words, then action. Yet again, a very wrong decision for him to make.
Lira lifted an eyebrow. "What mistake?
"He's underestimating us," Aeron turned to her, his eyes glowing with a perilous light. "He thinks he can unite the factions of the city against us. But he has forgotten just one little fact: we have the Aether Crystals. And what they promise-that's power no Red Dawn will be able to match."
Down in the underworld, in the hidden rooms of the Aether Crystals, Kara stood singularly eyeballed by the varicolored glow of the crystals. She would not be like those who willingly gave themselves over to the powers of the Aether Crystals, having seen enough to know this was a gift and a curse. Tonight, however, was different.
She also had never betrayed Aeron, yet her doubts did assail her from time to time. The whispers, the shifting alliances within the ranks-it all seemed to be going so fast, all so sudden. Now, with the Red Dawn on the rise, adding to this unplanned betrayal, Kara was no longer able to keep at bay the growing churning in her chest.
A shadow fell across the room, and Kara spun fast, hand reaching instinctively for the hilt of her blade. Of course, it was only Aeron, striding toward her with that assured bounce in his step.
"You're troubled," he said without emotion but in a probing tone.
Kara forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Just thinking about what's coming. The Red Dawn is moving, and our enemies are gathering. It feels like we're on the edge of something. something bigger."
Aeron stopped in front of her, his expression unreadable. "You're not worried, are you? You've always been the one to fight when things look impossible."
Kara hesitated for a moment before she replied, "It's not the fighting I'm worried about. It's the choices we're making. The power we're wielding. The Aether Crystals are dangerous, Aeron. I've seen what they do to people. They twist them."
Aeron's gaze hardened slightly, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, his grip firm. "The Aether Crystals are the key to our survival. They're not just power; they're the future. Without them, we'll be crushed under the weight of our enemies. Vallius, the Red Dawn, all of them—they don't understand the true potential of the Crystals."
Kara looked at him, her eyes filled with a mix of admiration and fear. "And what about us? What happens when we've used all the power? When we've become the very thing we're trying to fight against?"
Aeron replied after a moment of silence. He stared into her eyes, his eyes weighing her words. He finally spoke, much softer, "I won't let us fall, Kara. Long as we have control of the Crystals, nobody can defeat us. Not the Red Dawn. Nobody."
The following morning, Aeron called a council with his closest associates, Lira, and the leaders of the Vallians. The air in the room was thick with foreboding. Each face around the table was set, yet each was there for the very same reason: to attack first, before Vallius and the Red Dawn could gather too great a force.
Aeron wasted no time. "We cannot afford to wait for them to come to us. We will have to strike them before any solid alliances are made. I want a full-scale assault on their eastern quarters: hard, fast, and with overwhelming force. I want to leave no doubt about who is best.
Lira nodded. "Still, we will have to tread carefully, as the Red Dawn organizes. Yet, it is supported by those factions we cannot afford to alienate. Press too hard, and we will see the whole city turned against us.
Aeron smiled darkly. "I'm not just taking down Vallius and his forces—I'm taking down every faction that dares to oppose us. The Red Dawn will never recover from this blow. And after we've secured the eastern quarter, we'll move on their stronghold."
As he was mostly wont to do, but this time in a small private chamber, the night before the strike, Aeron sat. The shadows dance around the walls; he watched them dance as they flutter on his room's flashed light. His hand lay on the hilt of the blade, but his mind was elsewhere.
The door had been knocked on very softly; it swooped on its hinges and opened. In came Kara, her face unreadable.
"You're still going through with this," she said, her voice quiet.
Aeron turned to her, an intent glint in his eye. "Of course. There's no turning back now."
Kara hesitated. "I don't like this. The attack. The betrayal. You're pushing too hard, Aeron. There's too much at risk."
Aeron's gaze softened for a moment, but only for a brief second. "I know you're worried. But this is the only way to ensure our future. To ensure our survival."
She stepped in closer still, her voice a whispered warning. "I've seen what's happening, Aeron. I've seen how power consumes someone. It already is happening to you. If you continue on that path, you will lose yourself. You will lose everything." His expression turned cold again. "I will not lose myself, not lose what we built. Kara's hand reached out and brushed his arm. "Then don't let this darkness swallow you. Don't become the very thing you despise." Instead, Aeron simply turned his back on me and started walking away. "I'm not afraid of the dark, Kara. It's the light I'm afraid of." As night waned and gave way to dawn, so too did Aeron's forces ready themselves. The city held its collective breath as it waited for the ring of steel: the Aetherborn against the Red Dawn, a battle to be had. What Aeron could not have prepared for, however, was the tempest that brewed within: those closest in his confidence were waning in their belief, and doubt at times is worse than any army.